THE DONALD AND THE DUKE

Our own Louisiana treasure, Stephanie Grace, on Trump's handling of his endorsement by David Duke.

Given the ascent of Donald Trump, whose arena-size angerfests are kind of like [Pat] Buchanan’s 1996 rally on steroids, was there ever any doubt?

Keying in Trump’s anti-outsider rallying cry to build a wall on the Mexican border and ban Muslims from entering the United States, Duke, who rarely misses an opportunity to emerge from obscurity and grab a headline, declared that white people who didn’t back Trump were committing “treason” to their “heritage.”

Pat Buchanan was savvy enough to know that though he might get away with coded, racist language to attract supporters, association with David Duke crossed a line that would not play well and would surely come back to bite.

While Buchanan, a political communications pro by trade, knew just what to say in a similar situation, Trump has flailed and flopped all over the place. He first disavowed Duke’s support, then on Sunday reversed himself during a genuinely shocking ABC News interview.

“Well, just so you understand, I don’t know anything about David Duke, OK?” Trump said. “I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists.” (My emphasis)

David Duke?  I never heard of the guy.  OK, Mr Trump, you'd have to be living in a cave cut off from all communication not to have heard of Duke, the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

After a day of denunciations from the press and rival Republican candidates, Trump backtracked again, claiming that he hadn’t heard the question despite the specificity of his answer. (My emphasis)

And there it is - Trump's denial that is quite obviously not true, because he repeated Duke's name. Tomorrow is primary election day in Louisiana.  Only registered Democrats and Republicans are allowed to vote for their candidate of choice in each party.  My guess is that Trump's botched response to the endorsement of Duke will make little difference in his totals in Louisiana.  His performance in the Republican debate last night, which I thought was his worst, may affect the vote - or not.  Thus far, Trump's die-hard supporters have remained unaffected by reports of his stumbles, misspeaking, and denials of statements that are on record.  

EDWIN EDWARDS ON LARRY KING NOW

Crusty old James Gill, whose columns I've read seemingly forever, and whom The Advocate managed to steal away from the New Orleans Times Picayune when Advance Publications decided to reduce the paper edition to only three days a week, writes about Edwin Edwards' appearance on Larry King Now.

Edwards told King that he has finally “found something good to use Republicans for — sleep with them.” He would have expressed that sentiment less politely in the days before a Republican became his third wife and mother of his infant son, Eli.

One Republican got no sympathy whatsoever in Edwards’ interview with King: “I don’t understand the man,” Edwards said of Gov. Bobby Jindal. “He’s sitting on a program which would provide immediate health benefits for 300,000 to 400,000 people in Louisiana, and he refuses to sign onto it. He’s a different sort of person.”

Former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards, the crook, is indeed a better man than the fine, upstanding Catholic Christian Bobby Jindal, who denies health insurance to hundreds of thousands of Louisiana citizens to further his own political ambitions.  Edwards would never have refused to implement a program such as Medicaid Expansion which would provide health benefits to many low income people in the state.  With Edwards, I don't understand a man such as Bobby Jindal.

Has Bobby Jindal ever read one word of Roman Catholic social justice teachings?  Does Jindal pay any attention at all to Pope Francis' many statements about preferential treatment for the poor?  How could he and remain so focused on his own selfish political ambitions even as the people of Louisiana go wanting for decent health care?  Shame on you, Bobby Jindal.

TAKE THAT NEWHOUSE!

New Orleans edition of The Advocate

The newspaper pictured above lay in our driveway yesterday morning. The management of the Baton Rouge Advocate stepped into the breach when Newhouse's Advance Publications decided to publish the paper edition of the venerable New Orleans Times-Picayune only three days a week starting October 1.  The Baton Rouge paper, which is also venerable, will cover New Orleans news seven days a week in an edition that will be sold at newsstands and delivered to homes and businesses in New Orleans and the surrounding areas.  The Advocate hired former members of the TP staff who had been dismissed by Advance to run the New Orleans bureau and will continue with its thorough coverage of state politics in the new edition.  The response from people in greater NO and nearby parishes who wish to subscribe has been overwhelming, so much so, that the paper had to hire a call service to help handle requests for subscriptions.

Of course, it's not the same as having the Times-Picayune, which I read nearly my entire life since learning to read the funnies, and I'm still in mourning, but I'm very grateful for daily coverage of NO in a paper version.  Soon after half the staff was fired, we cancelled our subscription to the TP, for the paper very soon became a shell of itself.

To mark the launch of the New Orleans edition, The Advocate is rolling out an advertising campaign across the Crescent City that will involve print, TV, radio and billboards.

“We hope to get as many subscribers as possible,” [David] Manship [[publisher] said.

The Advocate’s coverage and staffing in New Orleans will get “bigger and better” as more subscribers get the newspaper.

I wish The Advocate every  success in its endeavor to give us a daily newspaper which covers the New Orleans area.